South Tech Academy Student Wins Gold Medal At National SkillsUSA Competition

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July 7, 2009

Matthew Vicari, recent South Tech Academy graduate and winner of the Pat Oliphant award, scored big as Florida’s representative in the National SkillsUSA Internetworking Competition in Kansas City last week. The SkillsUSA Internetworking competition is considered one of the most challenging competitions conducted by Cisco Systems, Inc. with Fluke Networks, Panduit. SIGMAnet, Inc.and NDG.

The Secondary-High School Competition had 34 states competing over a three-day period. Each competitor was scored in nine areas of skill, including Structured Cabling (Cablemaking & Punchdown), Network Troubleshooting & Monitoring, Basic Router Configuration, Advanced Router Configuration, LAN/WAN Design, End to End Networking, Online Written Test, Technical Assistance Call (TAC), and Professionalism.

Matthew’s seriousness about winning, coupled with long hours of study, resulted in his attaining the highest score in six out of the nine skilled areas. Program instructor, Clarence Vaughn, said that “Matthew is truly a South Tech success story and a prime example of what our program produces”.

One of the judges commented; "Congratulations! From my point of view, the level of proficiency you exhibited was at the highest level I have observed since the competition began in 1998. I was especially proud of the professional manner that you demonstrated throughout the competition. You should be proud of your performance and I hope that you are eager to continue the commitment to excellence.”

The 1st place Industry awards consist of an expense-paid trip for two (2) to Cisco corporate headquarters in San Jose, California and he was also awarded undisclosed equipment relative to the industry.

South Tech Academy president Jim Kidd said, “Matthew is another example of the level of commitment our students achieve in our various academies, creating ‘success stories, one student at a time”.